Followers

Friday, August 11, 2017

I've seen Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's name on many pulp
covers over the years, but as far as I recall, I've read little if anything by
him. So I decided to remedy that and started off with THE SCARLET KILLER AND
OTHER STORIES, a collection of half a dozen yarns that all appeared in the pulp
THRILLING ADVENTURES in 1932.

The book starts off with "Guarded by Fire" (March), which finds
American engineer Jack Nelson in Paris, where he meets a beautiful young
Russian woman who holds the key to a fabulous treasure that's hidden somewhere
in her homeland. There seems to be a bit of a Dashiell Hammett influence in
this story. There's a sinister fat man, a weaselly little Soviet agent who
could easily be played by Peter Lorre, and of course the treasure that everyone
is after. Even with all that going for it, the story is still a bit on the
bland side. Not bad, but it seemed lacking in action and drama to me.

The scene shifts to the Texas/Mexico border country for "Fire and
Sword" (September), a fairly short, simple action yarn about a clash
between the U.S. cavalry and a gang of bandidos
from south of the border. I think this one is set in the early 20th
Century, the Pancho Villa era, if you will, but Wheeler-Nicholson isn't very
specific about that. It's an entertaining story, although there's not much to
it.

It's back to Russia for the title novella (April), during the revolution when
U.S. army troops were sent to Siberia to protect American interests there. The
protagonist is a two-fisted American mining engineer who tries to rescue a
beautiful young woman from a bloodthirsty Bolshevik warlord known as the
Scarlet Killer. This one has a lot of action, with Cossacks charging around and
battling Bolsheviks, not to mention a really gruesome murder method employed by
the Scarlet Killer. The biggest drawback in this one is that the hero is dumb
as a rock. But to be fair, he hadn't read hundreds of pulp stories and so was
less likely to recognize all the bad guys' tricks.

As you’d guess from the title, “The Scourge of Islam” (October) is a Middle Eastern
adventure, as French crusader Hugh de Galliard, the only survivor from a group
of crusaders on their way to meet Genghis Khan, falls in love with a beautiful
girl, gets mixed up in Persian politics, is captured, escapes, teams up with
ol’ Genghis, and generally does a bunch of hacking and slashing. The epic
battle scenes are well-done and reminiscent of Robert E. Howard’s crusader
yarns. There’s a grisly execution method on this one, too. The ending is a bit
of a letdown, but overall this is a good story and my favorite in this
collection.

“The Fame of Albert Muggins” (November) is a comedy about a meek, weaselly
British soldier in Hong Kong, just before World War I, who finally explodes
under the mistreatment by his sergeant and wallops the non-com, then strikes an
officer as well and deserts his unit, escaping Hong Kong by stowing away on a
Spanish ship. This leads to a series of mildly amusing adventures. As a comedy,
this isn’t much, but Wheeler-Nicholson does an excellent job with the setting.

This collection wraps up with “The Dumb Bunny” (December), another story about
U.S. troops in Russia at the time of the revolution. In this one, a Bolshevik
plot to massacre a bunch of Americans is foiled by an unlikely hero. The
closing twist is a nice one, although it probably worked better and came as
more of a surprise in 1932.

Overall, my introduction to the work of Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson was
entertaining but not outstanding. He clearly knew his stuff when it comes to
military matters and was knowledgable about a wide swath of history. He came up
with some great concepts as well, but in these stories at least, the execution
is on the ordinary side for the most part. More colorful protagonists and a
little more blood and thunder would have helped. I have two more
Wheeler-Nicholson collections, and I enjoyed THE SCARLET KILLER AND OTHER
STORIES enough that I’ll certainly read them.